Palm Unveils Its Long-Awaited Smartphone, the Pre

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Palm Unveils Its Long-Awaited Smartphone, the Pre

LAS VEGAS – Struggling smartphone pioneer Palm announced a new phone, dubbed the "Pre," along with a new operating system that could give the company a fighting chance against its more powerful rivals.

The new Palm Pre, announced today at the Consumer Electronics Show, is a sleek black device that evokes the iPhone touchscreen and form factor. But it is no ordinary iPhone clone. It offers a clean interface, a combination of touchscreen and keyboard inputs, and a curvy black exterior.

"This brings Palm back into the game," said Tim Bajarin, industry analyst and consultant with the firm Creative Strategies. "It's a very slick and solid device. Having both the touch screen and drop down keyboard is exceptional."

Palm made history with its early handheld device, the Palm Pilot, which was the first personal digital assistant to achieve widespread success. The company later broke new ground with its Treo line of smartphones, which combined PDA and cellphone features. But in recent years the company has fallen on harder times, losing market share to rivals such as Apple, Motorola and Nokia. Many industry watchers regard Palm's widely-anticipated phone as the company's last best shot at survival.

The 3.1-inch touchscreen Palm Pre weighs 4.8 ounces also comes with a QWERTY slide-out keyboard. The phone supports Wi-Fi and EVDO and has 8GB storage.

"The Palm Pre is the phone that thinks ahead," said Ed Colligan, CEOof Palm, at the CES 2009 at one of the most anticipated events of the year." The phone is beautiful inside and out from a design perspective and it is one device that will help you navigate through your lives seamlessly."

"Mobile is in our DNA," said Colligan.

The phone will be available on the Sprint network "as soon as possible", said Palm. The company still needs to get FCC certification to launch the product. Palm did not disclose pricing for the device.

The new user interface and design should help Palm silence its critics who have assailed the company's recent Treo phones as being too bulky and out of touch with what consumers really want.

With the touchscreen Pre phone, Palm has hopped on to the trend set by Apple's iPhone and improved on it.

Palm Pre has a touchscreen not just on the main display area but also extends to the center button at the bottom of the phone to an area called the gesture zone. The Pre also comes with a removable battery.

The Palm Pre is built off a new platform called Palm Web OS that the company says it created from the ground up. "It is going to redefine the center of your access point to the Internet," said Colligan. "It is built on industry standard web tools and if you know HTML, CSS andJavscript you can develop for this platform."

That should help Palm attract mobile developers who have to choose among different platforms including the iPhone, Google Android, BlackBerry and Windows Mobile.

Palm also launched a wireless charging accessory called Touchstone, a smooth pebble-like gadget that allows users to drop their Palm Pre phone on it and allow for it to be charged wirelessly.

Palm Pre's user interface evokes the Apple's design ethos—a move that might not be entirely accidental.After all Palm executive Chairman Jon Rubenstein who introduced the Pre has been instrumental in the launch of the iPod and the creation of the iMac line at Apple. Rubenstein moved to Palm in 2007.

The launch of the Pre has also been interesting in that there were almost no leaked information about the phone available prior to its launch – a culture of secrecy that Apple is better known for.

"There's no question Palm is following in Apple's footsteps," saysJack Gold who runs the industry consulting firm J.Gold Associates."Apple is really the benchmark for everyone in the industry and Palm is trying to beat that standard."

With Pre Palm has taken the first steps towards making a comeback. But the company still needs to work out details including pricing, which will be a critical factor for consumers makign their purchases this year.

The phone's launch on the Sprint network could limit the device's popularity among users. "Sprint is a question mark in terms of carrier choice," saysBajarin. "It has had some ups and downs. A bigger carrier could have given greater reach for the phone."